Review: Anomaly 2 is a worthy sequel in every way

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The game that redefined tower defense RTS on the desktop, iOS, and Android is back, and way better than before.

There’s a small but dedicated group of gamers out there that can’t get enough of Tower Defense games. When you find a good one, you can lose entire days to the puzzles found within these games that pull off tying together strategy, resource management, and a little action to form a complete package.

Anomaly: Warzone Earth took a unique approach to the genre, where you acted as the invading force instead of the defending towers. The story put you at the head of a military squad trying to defend Earth from an invading force, and while it was a simple game it was deeply entertaining. The simplicity of the game controls made it easy to port to iOS and Android, and the game significantly more popular overnight. Now, 11bit Studios returns you to the battlefield with Anomaly 2.

Visually, everything about Anomaly 2 is greatly improved. The video cut scenes, the actual gameplay, and even the surprise ending to the tutorial really suck you into the game. You’ll find new units to play with, including morphing units that allow you to be a little more flexible about your strategies between long range and short range fighting. Despite these sweeping enhancements, the core gameplay is identical. You get the same high energy game that relies on quick decisions and long term planning at the same time, with the same complex puzzles that made the first game so enjoyable.

We failed to defend Earth, and what’s left of the Human race is spread out and far too busy scavenging to actually fight. What little bit of military force remaine is now trying to fight its way towards a last-ditch effort to remove this alien force once and for all.

It’s not exactly a unique story, but the basic plot to Anomaly 2 lends itself well to the kind of gameplay that made the game so popular. You plot your course through burned out buildings and broken highways, attacking any alien force that happens to be camping out to reach your end goal. If you’re a fan of the Anomaly storyline, it is well worth the playthrough to see how it all pans out. The big feature in Anomaly 2 for most gamers probably isn’t the single player, but a killer new multiplayer that pits tower defender against invading force.

If you’ve got a friend who is also a fan of Tower Defense games, you can play one-on-one games across a handful of maps where you are either Humanity or the alien force. If you’re playing the assaulting force, there’s not really anything different about the game. If you’re playing the aliens, you’ll find that most of the controls are similar, but the gameplay is very much like a traditional Tower Defense game. If you’ve been paying attention to the game so far and know how to use the alien turrets, the back and forth inspired by this multiplayer mode becomes a great deal of fun.

Anomaly 2 is available through Steam for Mac, PC, and Linux. Multiplayer functions flawlessly across each of these platforms, and if you grab the game before May 22 you can get 20% off the full price. The game retains a lot of its simple gameplay, so it’s entirely likely that we’ll see an iOS and Android version of Anomaly 2 before long. For $15, even if you picked up two and forced a friend to try it, you can’t go wrong with this sequel.